


Trail Of Smoke

by blue spider lily (lycorissprengeri)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Andrew Minyard Has Feelings, Butcher Neil Josten, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Neil Josten, Raven Neil Josten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-10-19 11:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17600276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lycorissprengeri/pseuds/blue%20spider%20lily
Summary: He wondered—not for the first time—if where he is right now is where he was supposed to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I was not supposed to write this but I did anyway... Here goes nothing, I guess

Nathaniel Wesninski let his cigarette burn to the filter, occasionally taking a drag to make sure that the cherry stays lit. He typically didn’t smoke because he never wanted the nicotine; he only wanted the acrid smoke that reminded him of gasoline and fire and everything bad. Running laps around the Court until he felt the burn in his legs was usually his way to keep a clear head whenever he’s feeling vexed, but when he’s having a particularly bad day, he’s always a tiny bit self-destructive.

  
Today just happened to be one of those days and it was at once revolting and comforting when he took another drag.

  
Nathaniel glanced out of the glass window, icy blue eyes tracking each player on the training ground, watching them practice. He wondered—not for the first time—if where he is right now is where he was supposed to be. If his mother is still alive, will he be on the run until he could no longer run, or will his luck run out faster before he could even think about running?

  
The door creaked open behind him, startling him from his thoughts. Turning the chair around, the redhead takes another drag before placing the still lit cigarette on the ashtray and watched as wisps of smoke rose into the air between them.

  
Jean Moreau didn’t look like much in person; grey eyes and short black hair, and while he’s tall—standing at 6 feet and 2 inches, nothing could catch more attention than the black “III” tattoo on his left cheekbone, stark when compared with his fair complexion. To the other players, that might be the proof that he’s a part of the Raven’s Perfect Court, but to the redhead, that tattoo is just their captain’s childish show of ownership.

  
_“You need to stop smoking, it’s bad for your health.”_

  
Well, now this is interesting. Nathaniel can already feel his mood changing for the better. Jean only speaks in French when he doesn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation, and usually that can only mean one thing—he has a message from the Lady.

  
“Occasionally only,” he said as he stubbed out the cigarette. _“And what news do you have for me?”_

  
_“‘ **48 hours,’** she said. We only get 2 days before we have to come back.”_ Despite the blankness in his expression, Jean could never truly hide anything from him, hide the anxiety in his voice from him. _“Will it be enough?”_

  
Quirking a small, true smile on his lips, Nathaniel stood up and grabbed the black and red varsity jacket with RAVENS and the number 4 on the back.

  
“That’s more than enough.”

 

* * *

 

 

Nathaniel spotted the Foxhole Court long before they made it to the stadium parking lot. Built to seat sixty-five thousand fans, it’d been placed on the outskirts of campus where it could tower over the shorter utility buildings nearby. The paint job only made it stand out more: the walls were a blinding white with obnoxiously bright orange trim. A gigantic fox paw was painted on each of the four outer walls. Although it’s not as large as their court, it might do well at giving him a headache just by looking at it, probably because he was so used to the Nest’s black and red.

  
Locking the car behind him, they walked to the entrance door and Nathaniel tapped in the code that he got from his plant in Palmetto. Walking inside with Jean following behind him, they walked past the lounge room, the offices, the locker room and the conference room before finally reaching the stadium.

  
His eyes were once again assaulted by white and orange and Nathaniel honestly doesn’t know how anyone could possibly tolerate such atrocity. The familiar sound of balls knocking down cones pulled him out of his stupor and Nathaniel smiled when he found the person who he had been looking for.

  
_“Fuku-chō!”_

  
He watched as the man flinched as he quickly turned his head to look at where the two Ravens were standing by the Foxes’ home benches. When he looked over his former vice-captain, a sense of disappointment spread across his entire being and his smile fell a bit as he frowned when he saw how the man’s dark skin somehow ashen in fear, his earlier fiery green eyes now darkened with dread.

  
_‘Well, this won’t do.’_

  
“How did you get in here?” Turning to the source of that gruff voice, Nathaniel came face to face with the coach of the Foxes, David Wymack. The wife beater the man wore showed off sleeves of tribal flame tattoos as both of his hands were clenched by his side. His stance was casual, but the look in his brown eyes was wary and heated at once. “And what are you Ravens doing here in Palmetto?”

  
“Why, it’s good to see you again, Coach Wymack. I hope you still remembered me from last year’s winter banquet.”

  
“Oh, I remember you, alright, but that doesn’t answer my damn questions.”

  
Putting back his smile on full force, he let his eyes wandered past the larger man’s shoulder where he focused on his target who had probably started to hyperventilate seeing how still the man is. “Don’t worry, we didn’t come here to cause any problem, we promise. We only wanted to have a talk with an old friend of ours, don’t we, Jean?”

  
His partner merely nodded, grey eyes on the lookout for any sign of danger, namely a certain goalkeeper and guard dog who they knew about via scarce phone calls from their former vice-captain. Wymack stared at the pair a while longer with threats in his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose in clear exasperation. Not trusting them with his back turned, he called out, “Kevin! Get your ass in my office.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ignoring another incoming message, Nathaniel continued folding a piece of paper that he got from the piles of papers and documents scattered around the room into a fox origami. Not long after that, Jean’s phone rang with a new message. Waving his hand carelessly when Wymack raised his brow questioningly at them, he said, “Riko needs to get a better hobby.”

  
Apparently, the answer was deemed as enough for him since the older man turned back to his documents and Nathaniel also turned back to his origami while Jean was content to just continued ignoring the messages and watching the redhead folding papers into origami. Minutes had passed when Kevin finally decided to grace them with his presence.

  
Out of his gear, Nathaniel was able to make a thorough once-over and was relieved to note that Kevin Day is looking better than the last time he saw the man. The frown that he typically wore during practice or whenever he was around the other Ravens was replaced with a much calmer looks although the underlying fear is still there for anyone with a pair of good eyes to see. His complexion is no longer pallid, and he seemed to be well-fed and taken care of which is good, Nathaniel thought, since they need their former vice-captain to be strong and healthy for what’s to come.

  
“Hello, Kevin. How are you? Fine? Come here, take a seat.” Tilting his head to the side, Jean took it as his cue to stand up and went to lean against the wall by Nathaniel’s side. Warily, Kevin took the seat beside his somewhat protégé. The redhead’s pale blue eyes were focused on the nervous man beside him, expression placid.

  
_“Stop that, you’re embarrassing yourself by acting all skittish. I didn’t help you escaped so you can continue acting like a kicked dog.”_

  
Kevin cowed under his harsh words, but the fists that he clenched on his lap spoke defiance. When Kevin looked back at the younger man, green eyes shone with the intensity that reminded Nathaniel of their younger days at Castle Evermore. “What are you doing here, Nathaniel?”

  
_“That’s better.”_ Smirking, he then shrugged one shoulder and hummed under his breath nonchalantly. Despite being happy to know that there’s still fire left in him, Nathaniel had long since learned not to be too hopeful when it comes to Kevin, knowing all too well just how much of a coward the man is. “I have news for you and I thought you might want to hear about it directly from me, so I came instead of calling.”

  
“And what might this news be?” Wymack cut in and Nathaniel gave the older man a side glance before turning his attention back to Kevin.

  
“Edgar Allan is coming south.”

  
And as predicted, all the tattered fight that he had gathered from earlier finally fall apart. Nathaniel was once again reminded why he hates the man sitting beside him.

  
Kevin Day is a bastard on court, unyielding and Nathaniel begrudgingly admitted that he respected that part of the man, but whenever his adopted brother as well as the captain of the Ravens, Riko Moriyama, came into the picture, Kevin Day was easily reduced to a mere lap dog that’s too much of a coward to defy his master. As a person who was taught to bite even the hand that fed him, Nathaniel had always hated this side of the man.

  
“Damn it, Kevin, breath!” Wymack said and went to Kevin to stand by his side.

  
“No!” Kevin’s voice was twisted with so much fear and panic, that the two Ravens in the room almost did a double take to see if it’s truly their former captain who said it and not someone else. They have seen the man panicked before, but this would be the first time they have seen the man having a breakdown. “He’s not allowed to do that! The ERC shouldn’t have approved it.”

  
Jean, who had been silent this entire time, finally cut in, “Actually, Edgar Allan had put in a transfer request with the ERC and it’s in the process of being approved. We thought it might be better if you found out about it earlier to better prepare yourself.”

  
That seemed to be the last straw for Kevin and Wymack let out a curse. Nathaniel gave a disapproving look at Jean but didn’t contradict the fact since he knows that it’s time for Kevin to face the music.

  
“Look at me,” Wymack demanded. “Look at me, god damn you, and breathe. It doesn’t matter. You signed a contract with me.”

  
“But he could pay off my scholarship in a heartbeat. You know he would. He’d pay you off and take me home and I—I can’t go back there. I can’t, I can’t, I won’t, I—I have to go. I have to go. I should go now before he has to come for me. Maybe he’ll forgive me if I go back. If I make him hunt me down any more than I have already, he’ll kill me for sure.”

  
“Shut up,” Wymack said. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  
“I can’t tell Riko no!”

  
“Then don’t say a word,” Tired with the man’s cowardice, Nathaniel glared at Kevin who flinched when green eyes looked at him. “I didn’t help you escape Riko just to watch you walk back to him with your tail tucked between your legs, Day. Stop being so selfish and grow a fucking spine because you’re not the only one who’s suffering right now. Do you know who must replace you as Riko’s partner since you’ve run away, huh? Fuck you for thinking that everything revolves around you.”

  
Nathaniel stood up and walked out of the room, not trusting himself to stay in there any longer for he might shove a knife down the striker’s throat. But before he could go far, the redhead was caught off guard and was slammed into a wall. Gasping for air, Nathaniel snarled at the person in front of him.

  
Andrew Minyard didn’t look like much in person, five feet even and the all-black ensemble he wore did nothing to make him look any taller, but Nathaniel knew better. Andrew Minyard was known to be the Foxes’ deadliest investment for a reason and while most of the Foxes were self-destructive, Minyard seemed keen on collateral damage.

  
In addition to that, Minyard was also the only person to ever turn down Edgar Allan University—or rather, to ever turn down Kevin and Riko who had personally set up a meet-and-greet to welcome him to the line. While he never explained that choice, everyone assumed it was because Wymack was willing to sign his family as well, but Nathaniel suspected that it was probably because Minyard just liked to say no to self-entitled assholes.

  
Well, whatever the reason was, Riko was not happy when he returned to the Nest on that day and Nathaniel still blamed Minyard for it.

  
“What do we have here? A Raven in the Foxes’ den? Poor, poor Raven—are you lost?”

  
Before Nathaniel could reply, Jean was there to pull the blond off him and placed himself between the two. Coughing, he distinctly heard Wymack’s furious voice. “God damn it, Minyard. This is why we can’t have nice things.”

  
“Oh, Coach, if he was nice, he wouldn’t be a Raven, would he?”

  
“Fuck you,” Nathaniel said and stood straighter against the wall. The blond smiled at him and tapped two fingers to his temple in a mocking salute as he stepped back. Stretching his neck, he tugged at the back of Jean’s jacket in silent question. Grey eyes turned away from the volatile blond a couple feet away to inspect the damage that was done to his partner.

  
“It will bruise if we don’t ice it,” Jean informed him and turned to Wymack. “I need an ice pack.”

  
Pulling a set of keys from his pocket, Wymack tossed it at Jean. “Down the hallway, the door on your left.”

  
Giving Minyard a side glance, Jean goes to where he guessed the infirmary is. Clearing his throat, Wymack comes around to stand between Nathaniel and Minyard. The blond had no problem reading the silent warning. He threw his hands up in an exaggerated shrug and retreated further to give Nathaniel more room. “Andrew’s a bit raw on manners. You okay?”

  
“Where’s Kevin?” He asked instead, though his eyes didn’t leave Minyard’s.

  
“Drinking.”

  
“Seriously—even after what I just told you? You need to stop enabling him every time he becomes like that. He needs to get on his feet as soon as possible.” Sparing a glance down the hallway where Jean had gone, Nathaniel let out a tired sigh. “Look, just—just try to get him to play and tell him if he still wants to be in Riko’s shadow, then our deal’s off because I can’t afford to wait for him—”

  
“What deal?”

  
The sudden interruption startled him out of his jumbled thought and when he looked over Wymack’s shoulder, he was pinned with a blank gaze though if he looks closely, he was able to see the corks turning and the intent in those eyes told him otherwise. “What?”

  
“What deal?”

  
Not sure how he was supposed to respond, Nathaniel looked at Wymack who in turn looked from Nathaniel to Minyard, then let go. “I’m going to check up on Kevin.”

  
Nathaniel listened to his footsteps as he left and when he was sure that Wymack is no longer within hearing reach, he crossed his arms and glared at Minyard. As he was opening his mouth to give the blond a snide remark, Nathaniel was once again interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. Grumbling under his breath at the yet another interruption, his frown deepened when he saw who is calling. Well, might as well—

  
He sighed, smoothing out his expression and ignored the stare that’s trying to burn a hole in his being.

  
“Well, hello Riko, rare of you to call me—”

  
**“Where are you?”**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But that doesn’t make Andrew Minyard any less dangerous in his eyes—he was Kevin Day’s guard dog, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have one advice: DO NOT continue Master if you could not handle the workload and the despair that comes with it
> 
> I regret life so much right now

_Sometimes, it’s easier to just forget—forget about the day his mother had left him, forget about the day his father had sold him, forget about the wounds and bruises painting his body, forget about how his friends grew up to be as broken as he did. The lady with ice blue eyes told him to close his eyes and to close his ears. To close his mouth and to disappear. She said that this is no place for a child to grow up, that this is hell on earth._

  
_“In here, everyone slept with their eyes opened, that the monster underneath your bed is not the one you should be scared of.” She said once, when he stood before her bathe in red. “Remember this, my child, you are alone in here, the only way you can get help is when you get out of here.”_

  
_That was one of the many lessons he had learned from her, her guidance the only light in the dark abyss._

 

* * *

 

 

“Well, hello Riko, rare of you to call me—”

  
**“Where are you?”**

  
‘ _Eloquent as always,_ ’ he thought, but Nathaniel refrained from rolling his eyes and instead say, “Now, now, you know not everyone likes a clingy lover. It’s none of your business to know 24/7 where I am or what I’m doing and before you throw a tantrum, I already have permission from Coach Tetsuji to leave the Nest and I’ll be back by tomorrow— _don’t worry, I’m not going to run away like our dear fuku-chō.”_

  
There was silence on the other end of the line before Riko hangs up, leaving Nathaniel with a monotonous beeping.

  
Letting out a scoff, Nathaniel looked back at Minyard whose persistent gaze was on him before glancing down the hallway when he saw the shadow of his partner walking toward them. Taking the ice pack from Jean, the redhead looked back at the still staring blond and after playing with a thought that’s been in his mind for a while back as he pressed the ice pack at his bruise, Nathaniel grabbed the keys inside his jacket and gave it to Jean.

  
_“Wait for me in the car.”_

  
There’s question in his eyes, but Jean didn’t say anything, instead he looked between the two of them in the same way Wymack did before walking away.

  
Nathaniel had read all files and records he could get about each Foxes and by far only two people were able to raise any alarm: Natalie Shields whose name changed to Renee Walker not long ago and Andrew Minyard, the menace that’s currently standing in front of him. Despite the two of them growing up with criminal records and shady backgrounds, Renee Walker is the bigger threat between the two.

  
But that doesn’t make Andrew Minyard any less dangerous in his eyes—he was Kevin Day’s guard dog, after all.

  
“Look, Kevin had probably told you about who I am and as such, I already know who you are, so why don’t we cut a deal? You make sure that Kevin is doing what he was supposed to do—grow a backbone and win the championship, and I’ll make sure to keep Riko occupied. How’s that?”

  
The blond was silent, seeming to consider Nathaniel’s offer though the redhead couldn’t quite pinpointed the exact thought since he’s having a hard time reading the man before him—which was a bit worrying since he prided himself to easily be able to get a read on a person.

  
“What makes you think you’re able to do that?”

  
“ _Oh_ , Kevin didn’t tell you?” Nathaniel said, surprise coloring his tone. “I really thought that he would have told you already since he was so desperate to get away from Riko. I guess he _can_ keep his mouth shut.”

  
When Minyard glared at him, Nathaniel merely laughed. “You can ask him if you want to know; God knows why he want to keep this one a secret when he had told you everything else.”

 

* * *

 

 

_“Nathaniel, he’s different. He was not sold to the Moriyama to pay off some debts like how Jean’s parent did with him, but he’s also not like me who was taken in by Mast—Tetsuji. He suddenly shows up all those years ago, bruised and bandaged. We were instructed to train with him and we train with him without asking question. But he was always picking fights with Riko whenever we’re training, and I thought he was stupid despite being so good in Exy. A couple years after Nathaniel arrived, I found my mother’s letter and the truth about the Moriyama._

  
_“I’ve told you before, the Moriyama real family business is murder, that they’re yakuza. The Moriyama is broken in half: the main family where the first-born sons, like Kengo and Ichirou, grew up in and then there’s the branch family for the other Moriyama children like Tetsuji and Riko, and owned goods like Jean…and me. But what the branch family members didn’t know about the main family was that they have another name backing them._

  
_“They’re called the Wesninski, a family of natural born killers. They have been working for the Moriyama as their personal hitmen and become their left-hand men since decades ago. The current head of the Wesninski family is Nathaniel’s father, making him the next in line and within the Moriyama’s rank, Nathaniel have as much power as Riko if not more since he also has Ichirou’s support.”_

 

* * *

 

 

Nathaniel ran down the court as fast as he could, vanishing past the backliners and striker who were just starting to move. Jean’s mark, a backliner named Jason Moore with the bluest eyes and tan skin, cut across the court toward him, meaning to cut him off, but Nathaniel was faster than he expected, and he led the other all the way down the court.

  
The ball hit the far wall and came soaring back. Nathaniel jumped to catch it before it could go over his head. His mark was there when he landed, and he bounced away from her, counting steps instinctively as he swung his racquet out of his mark’s reach. Her racquet just barely missed his fingers as she took a swing at him. Nathaniel ran down the court as fast as he could, making five steps before his mark was right on his tail. He then fired a shot at the goal that the goalkeeper just barely deflected. A striker named Ethan von Brandt with sharp jaw and pale complexion dodged around their backliner mark to catch the ball, but they didn't have a clear shot. They threw the ball back to Nathaniel instead.

  
His mark moved as if to intercept it, but Nathaniel didn't let her. He slammed his stick into hers almost hard enough to send both their racquets flying. She cursed as she lost her grip, and then there was nothing to stop the redhead from getting to the goal. He caught the ball and carried it all ten steps, calculating angles and the goalkeeper's body language as he ran. His last step was a half-step that helped tilt him forward and he put everything behind his throw.

  
The goal lit up red as Nathaniel’s ball hit home. The buzzer went off overhead, and he took off his helmet as his teammates panted and grumbled from exhaustion.

  
Nathaniel’s mark, a Caucasian girl named Clarice Harrison with green eyes and freckles dusting across her nose, stepped in front of him with her own helmet in her hands. “You’re so cruel boss, making me chase after you.”

  
"You're getting slow," was all that the redhead said before moving to gather the entire team, ignoring the exasperated groan coming from her as she followed behind him. The team’s sole goalkeeper, Charles Harrison, hold out his hands to take both Nathaniel and his younger sister’s racquets and placed it back on the rack for them. Beside him was another backliner, a dark-skinned man with kind brown eyes named Malik Nelson, who was passing around water bottles to the other.

  
Well, calling the five of them—Jean and himself not included—a team of Exy players would be an exaggeration. They are spares; a group of mismatched players with enough talents to be a part of the Ravens, but not enough skills to play for the Ravens. Nathaniel was eternally grateful for Riko’s shortcoming when evaluating players who are not up to his standard in Exy. Because if it’s not for the captain’s decision, Nathaniel probably would have never seen these rough diamonds that are just laying around on court, waiting to be polished to be greater and while his intentions for them were far sinister than what they came to Edgar Allan for, now that they are under his supervision, Nathaniel knows that they are reveling in the improvements and growths of their current selves the most.

  
“Nate, have you thought about what we’re going to do now that you’re playing for this season? I mean, I doubt that brat would stand idle when the season begin—with Kevin playing for the Foxes and your debut as Ravens.” Jason said, his face making this wounded look as if he just saw someone kicked his dog.

  
Without looking up from their phone, Ethan said, “We’ll make do like we always did; if he’s playing dirty, we’ll play dirtier.”

  
“We can do that, but don’t forget that until the Lord is dead, we can’t hurt him too much since he’s still a Moriyama, one who’s directly related to the Lord.” Malik reminded them, and Jason even bemoaned at the disadvantages that it has given them while Ethan grumbled under their breath. Charles was quiet, and both Jean and Clarice were looking at him.

  
It took him a couple seconds to made up his mind, but when he did, he said, “The plan has been approved.”

  
Chatters ceased, and their attentions focused toward where Nathaniel was leaning on the plexiglass with a water bottle in hand. With a definite tone to his voice, he continues, “What I’m going to tell you will not leave this court. Understand?”

 

* * *

 

 

“Are you going alone?”

  
Running his fingers through his recently dyed black hair to make it appeared disheveled enough without looking sloppy, Nathaniel turned away from his reflection to where Jean was sitting on his bed. “Kevin said Minyard wants to meet me; the implied alone is clear, so I doubt he would liked it if I bring someone with me. You know what they say about being around wild animals and all.”

  
“Is that what you see him as? A wild animal?”

  
“Minyard seems to be the type to lash out when provoked and I don’t want to cause any trouble, not when I need his help with Kevin and the other Foxes. Even if we have a mole, that doesn’t mean they would be able to get everything that I wanted to know.”

  
“Just…be careful,” Jean warned him, and that seemed to be it seeing that he had went back to his book and continued what he was doing before speaking to him. Nathaniel gave the man a last glance before stepping out of the room with his car keys in hand. Along his way in the hallway he was greeted by the other Ravens though he ignored them in favor of looking through his phone for new messages. When there’s none, he pocketed it and almost ran into another Ravens.

  
“Watch it—!” When the man saw who it was, his face paled. “Josten.”

  
“Where’s Riko?” he asked instead, ignoring the name spoken. Josten, Neil Josten. The orphan, the number four, Kevin’s replacement. It’s been his alias since he came here. There’s no need for anyone beside the main family and his team to know that he’s related to the Butcher of Baltimore. It will just cause trouble.

  
That doesn’t mean Neil Josten didn’t already cause trouble here.

  
“Captain Riko is with Coach Tetsuji.” Then hesitantly, he added, “Is there anything I could help you with?”

  
“No,” Nathaniel shakes his head, already walking away. As he walked into the garage, Nathaniel couldn’t shake off the earlier conversation. Why would Tetsuji want to see Riko for? As far as he knew, there’s nothing that Riko did would require any attention from the man and the main family have not shared anything with the branch family yet so why would the usually distant man want to see his nephew who he cared even less?

  
Pushing the thought for another day, Nathaniel started the car and drove away. The ride to Columbia was quiet and around midnight, he arrived at the designated meeting place. Eden's Twilight was a two-story nightclub a couple blocks from the main road and through the tinted window, he could see a line of people waiting to get in. After finding an empty lot to park his car, Nathaniel immediately went to the entrance and not even bothering to wait in line like the other. Some even cursed at him, but he merely ignored them. The bouncers at the entrance were at least twice his height and size and as they looked down at him, Nathaniel merely smiled.

  
“Minyard invited me.” They exchanged discreet glances to each other, but after what seemed to be some consideration being made, they let him in. Inside was another story. Dance floor packed with people of various age and colors, club’s lights shining brightly overhead and the music was raucous, but not loud enough to prevent people from having conversations—it’s a decent place to meet, he’ll admit. Making sure to stick to the wall, Nathaniel went to the bar.

  
Three bartenders were on staff. Nathaniel waited until one of them greeted him with an easy smile. “What can I get for you, handsome?”

  
“I don’t drink.” Looking around the club, he added. “Where can I find Minyard?”

  
At the mention of that name, Nathaniel caught a flash of apprehension but was quickly covered by another smile. Before the bartender could say anything, something sharp jabbed at his side. “I didn’t think you would really come.”

  
“Hello to you too, Minyard. Haven’t seen you for a month and a half and this is how you treat a friend? I’m hurt, right in the heart.” Letting out a mocked gasp that he knew Minyard wouldn’t appreciate, the thing that jabbed him earlier return with vengeance as Nathaniel hissed when its digging into his back. “Well, that really hurts.”

  
“We’re not friends,” he said, removing the thing that he assumed to be the blond’s knife from his back. Nathaniel turned to face Minyard, and under the colorful lighting, the redhead noticed the absence of his manic smile and the glazed looks in his eyes.

  
_‘Oh,’_ Nathaniel thought, _‘he’s sober.’_

  
Right now, they were standing so close that they were almost chest to chest, and at the back at his mind Nathaniel took a delight at the difference of heights—he’s the shortest member in the Ravens, much to his chagrin—as he studied Minyard in the same way he was studied. Minyard seemed to take the delight in his eyes as a challenge because before he knew it, hand was reaching out for him. Nathaniel tensed as Minyard’s fingers curled around the back of his neck, pulling his head down. Nathaniel focused on Minyard’s cheekbone so that he won’t go cross-eyed and let Minyard study his eyes.

  
“They’re really blue.” Despite the empty expression, there seemed to be an underlying awe in his voice as the blond whispered, not realizing that he had said it out loud and Nathaniel couldn’t help but stared at those hazel eyes when he heard it. Never had anyone said anything nice about his eyes, they always told him that he had such cold eyes, that he looked just like his father because of these eyes and to hear it said with such emotion other than hate or disgust or fear, Nathaniel was…very pleased. But before he could study what it meant, the blond had already pushing him away as if touching him burned.

  
“We’re going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forget slow burn, in the next chapter they'll probably kiss. Probably


End file.
